You are here

How the Wrong Technology is Creating Discord in Your Office

Operating your 21st century business with antiquated, legacy technology is much like trying to travel cross-country via bicycle: it’s time consuming, exasperating and, above all else, inefficient.

In fact, using such solutions can cause so much dissention in the workplace that investing in bleeding-edge technologies is very much top of mind for the C-suite across all industries and verticals. Specifically, worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.8 trillion in 2014, representing a 3.1 percent increase from 2013 spending of $3.7 trillion, according to Gartner. Moreover, Gartner’s latest 2014 report found that:

Spending on cutting-edge devices—like tablets, mobile phones and PCs—is expected to grow 4.3 percent in 2014, after experiencing a brief decline last year.

In other words, companies are finally considering a total rip-and-replace when it comes to their outdated, obsolete technologies so that they can start communicating like modern businesses. And with the right technologies—like VoIP, unified communications (UC), and a robust office phone system—in place, it becomes easy for companies to bolster collaboration, communication and productivity. Let’s take a look at the leading technologies designed to bring substantial gains to your business.

Internet-routed Calls

It seems that everything these days is going the way of the Internet and there’s a good reason for that. The Internet brings a wealth of advantages from increased speed to enhanced productivity to substantial cost savings. It’s why a great number of companies are forgoing the PSTN in favor of VoIP phones, so that their calls can be routed over the Internet. To bring your small business phone system up to snuff, consider VoIP technology as it:

Augments Customer Service: There is nothing worse than hearing your consumer say, “I’m sorry can you repeat that, you are breaking up.” Unfortunately, if your technology is better suited for the Dark Ages, that phrase may be all too commonplace within your organization. VoIP technology enables your team to do a 180 with your office phone system, bringing you crystal clear audio quality, advanced conferencing features and auto-attendant capabilities.

Cuts Costs: From an OPEX/CAPEX perspective, VoIP technology is a no-brainer for businesses of all sizes. That’s because VoIP phone systems can be configured to integrate with your core applications, like CRM, ERP or ATS, empowering each with the necessary functionality to get the most done in the least amount of time, which translates into saved dollars. Moreover, such technology provides unlimited local and long distance plans, as well as cost-effective international calling plans.

A Central Communications Platform

In order to operate like a modern business, your departments cannot operate across silos, nor can your technology. Conversely, competitive companies employ best-in-class UC solutions in order to ensure the highest degree of collaboration, continuity and productivity.

“There is a need to create an overall communications experience,” contends Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research.

To make your office phone system more robust, embrace a UC offering that yields the following benefits:

Support of Emerging Trends: From the surge of BYOD to the mobile workforce movement, there are a plethora of trends that are rocking the business world. Fortunately, a fully baked UC offering provides support for these emerging trends through a variety of value add-ons like video/audio conferencing, presence support and live chat.

Cost Savings: UC systems slash traditional telephony costs considerably by relying on IP telephony to route calls over the corporate data network. Moreover the right UC system means your top-notch employees can work smarter, enabling you to enjoy OPEX savings.

Integration: The ability to integrate real-time with non-real-time communications is key. In so doing, your company can compete more aggressively with other players in the market. UC incorporates real time services with non-real time services in a move that enhances productivity, availability and end user and internal satisfaction.

A Robust Office Phone System

When you team with the right provider, there are no limits to how comprehensive your office phone system can become. For example, there are a multitude of features that can be included with office phone systems at no additional cost.

Some of the chief functionalities include: personal automated attendants, in which unanswered calls are delivered to a voice prompt that allows users to choose from multiple options or deposit voicemail; call detail reports, so executives can view inbound and outbound calls based on originator, destination and duration; classes of service, which allow the restriction of outbound calls by calling areas on a per-user basis; and IVR voicemail access, in which users can navigate voice menus to retrieve, deposit, and otherwise handle voicemail messages via IVR, among other features.

With the right office phone system in place, your employees can spend more time focused on completing their tasks and exceeding corporate expectations and less time lamenting your company’s poor technological choices.